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The Eaton may be well away from the traditional tourist centres, but it does offer exceptional value to business travellers with probably the best services-to-cost ratio in Kowloon. Like many other Hong Kong hotels, it has recently benefited from a wholesale renovation but, thanks to its relatively remote location, it’s popular with the ever-increasing number of business travellers and tourists from mainland China. A wide range of wellequipped, spacious meeting rooms are made available by the forward-looking management and the ballrooms are very popular with Chinese wedding parties. The MTR station is close by and Nathan Road is the conduit to the heart of the city—just jump on a bus.
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Nathan Road is Kowloon’s Golden Mile, and the most prominent and crowded thoroughfare in a very busy city. The Holiday Inn is a landmark on the street which attracts a cosmopolitan clientele to its well-run restaurants and bars. Leisure customers dominate the guest list, but a couple of ‘executive’ floors offer business travellers comfort combined with generous facilities. One criticism is that the hotel’s outlets are often very crowded, but there are plenty of alternative venues in the area to explore.
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With cool, trendy interiors and a great central location, these available-by-thenight apartments are in great demand. The rooms are modern, furnished with taste, and comfortable. Central and Lan Kwai Fong are just around the corner, so restaurants and other amenities are close by, and transport connections are excellent. Negligent staff let the side down and it’s not unknown for them to be fast asleep and draped over the reception desk when guests arrive. However, if expectations are reined in and the price is the reason for booking, Ice House is ideal.
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This hotel is an unsung hero to those in the know. A five-star property that concluded a wholesale renovation in 2005, it’s admired for its outstanding restaurants and personable, professional and approachable staff. More than half the guests are regular returnees. Much of the harbour view has been obscured by a flyover, but rooms on higher floors retain an outlook. Transport facilities have improved enormously in the area recently as the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station has expanded underground. Visitors should make use of the ferry terminal on the waterfront—the journey to Central takes between five and 10 minutes and is one of the city’s most relaxing modes of transport.
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This grand showcase, 56-storey property is the flagship of the Hong Kong-based Shangri La group, owned by the billionaire Kuok brothers. Classy and cool, with a breathtaking atrium hung with a vast woven landscape in traditional Chinese style, it exudes refinement. Located above Pacific Place Mall (close to the JW Marriott and the slightly down-at-heel Conrad Hotel), it occupies a prime position for business travellers and offers wonderful facilities. Restaurant Petrus, on the top floor, boasts a comprehensive collection of Chateau Petrus vintages (including rare magnums) and a talented French chef. The MTR is accessible via Pacific Place (a shopping and entertainment complex connected to the hotel) and HKCEC is a five-minute taxi ride away
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Jia wears its style on its sleeve. Trendy young people waft around its Philippe Starck interior with an air of practised boredom, and the staff study clothes first, travel documents second. Amazingly, for a city with so many competing highquality hotels, Jia is the first real boutique property. Starck’s pared-down design style mixes modernist minimalism with highcamp retro. But the hotel lacks certain essential amenities for the business traveller. Staff say that they’ll supply ‘business support’, but that’s no substitute for a business centre. The location is close to Causeway Bay MTR station and a 15- minute taxi ride from HKCEC.
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An oval tower perched atop the multilayered Pacific Place Mall, the Marriott provides a haven for weary travellers and aching consumers alike. With some top-notch outlets and well-trained, friendly staff, it can sometimes feel too popular, especially when buffets and dining tables are snapped up during lunchtime. Rooms are well equipped for business travellers, with broadband internet access and dual-voltage electricity supplied. Views across the harbour stretch away to the nine hills of Kowloon in the distance. Guests can access the MTR through the shopping mall without ever having to leave the building. A taxi to the HKCEC takes five minutes outside rush hour.
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The Kowloon Shangri-La lacks the architectural grandeur of its Hong Kong Island sister property, but it’s no less opulent. The property recently benefited from an extensive refurbishment, which has placed even greater demand on its rooms and restaurants. Diners flock to Café Too, a dining concept that turns the kitchen inside out as chefs prepare food in full public view. The spacious rooms and suites are popular with tycoons, who equate the Shangri-La brand with Chinese culture. Business travellers get all the mod cons and transport links are excellent.
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Langham Place is an ambitious, groundbreaking venture for Hong Kong’s newest hotel group. The iconic tower it occupies was constructed on top of Mongkok MTR station and is the first step in an urban renewal that will eventually change the face of Kowloon. As such, its shiny modernity exists in arresting contrast to its surroundings—dirty, rundown tenements already gone to rot. Because of the tower’s urban isolation, the rooftop swimming pool is one of the few in town not overlooked by office or residential windows. It is the first fully wireless property in the city, and sets new standards for technological prowess.
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One of the newest and most modern hotels in Hong Kong, Le Meridien is located in a state-of-the-art technology hub on the western shore of Cyberport, overlooking the Lamma Channel. The development remains controversial, has signally failed to attract its target audience of computer and telecommunications multinationals, and has the atmosphere of a 21st-century ghost town. The hotel, on the other hand, offers excellent accommodation with enough smart and trendy features to satisfy the most upto- date executives. It’s small enough to get away with a ‘boutique’ label, and the out-of-town location offers an alternative vision of Hong Kong.
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Located in an unfashionable district away from bright lights and designer outlets, the Newton has a solid reputation as a value-for-money option for the traveller on a limited budget. Its popularity arises from its clean, spacious rooms and unfussy performance. Hong Kong Old Restaurant, in the basement, has a neighbourly feel and serves a traditional Shanghainese menu featuring great dim sum. Fortress Hill MTR station is less than a minute’s walk around the corner and a taxi to HKCEC takes 10 minutes.
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Enjoy views over Victoria Park, where early morning t’ai chi classes can be observed or undertaken, and areas of the harbour. The competitively priced Park Lane offers a location that is convenient but off the beaten track. The large rooms make the most of the view, although some have a surcharge for the outlook. The hotel is well equipped and offers a broad range of services, particularly for the business traveller. Causeway Bay MTR station is a short walk away, as is a huge choice of shopping options.
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The Regal Airport is the only hotel at Chek Lap Kok, and with 1,103 rooms it is Hong Kong’s largest. Accessible via a covered, air-conditioned ‘linkbridge’, it offers comfortable, sound-proofed rooms and panoramic views of the airport’s runways, with jets landing and departing in quick succession. At present it is a great location for plane spotters, but only essential to business or leisure travellers who are booked on very early or very late flights. However, the construction of a vast new conference centre adjacent to the airport will see the hotel take on a new lease of life.
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Classy, elegant and refined, the Ritz- Carlton sets the benchmark for business hospitality. A small hotel by Hong Kong standards, it achieves a veneer of casual intimacy that makes its efficient, consistently high performance seem effortless. A range of top-grade restaurants and bars keeps the appetite in check, and a dip in Central’s only heated outdoor swimming pool is the envy of all the overlooking office workers in winter or summer. The location is convenient for transport connections to all the major business venues and it’s a five-minute journey from the HKCEC. The only foreseeable problem will be paying the bill—quality at this level doesn’t come cheap.
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While the Royal Garden lacks the visual appeal of some of its competitors (and would benefit from modernisation), it remains popular with business and leisure travellers because of its ambitious restaurants and Chinese ambience. It is very popular with wedding parties, and strolling through the interior guests can observe nuptial celebrations that are quite different from their Western counterparts. Restaurants include Italian and Japanese as well as the recently refurbished Royal Garden Chinese. Transport links are good, with the rail terminus to the border with Guangdong close by at Hung Hom, easy access to Tsim Sha Tsui station and a new link to the KCRC network.
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It can be difficult to get your bearings in the Sheraton because of the mazelike cluster of corridors, lift shafts and underpasses that must be negotiated on arrival. But the recently renovated hotel offers a prime location, unhindered harbour views and a good range of food and beverage options. Rooms in the tower have a premium price and are accessible via scenic elevators that allow passengers to observe the vista outside on the journey up. Choose a drink in the Sky Lounge and dinner in the Oyster & Wine Bar for a memorable evening.
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The Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel, with its luxurious rooms and suites, is designed for the pleasure and comfort of both business and holiday travellers. It provides the ultimate in personalised service with its Continental Club, lounges, five function rooms, an outdoor swimming pool, gym and spacious public and service areas. The restaurants offer a selection of cuisine including European haute cuisine, international favourites, exotic Japanese creations, the largest selection of rum in Asia and traditional Asian and English afternoon tea. It sits on top of a huge shopping centre and offers great views of the waterfront.
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Well managed, clean and hospitable, the Metropole really didn’t deserve the misfortune of being identified as the flashpoint of SARS, the health scare that struck Hong Kong, Asia and beyond late in 2003. Despite that hiccup, the hotel, which is run by the China Travel Service, prospers through sound performance and lavish facilities offered at reasonable prices. A hidden gem, the House of Tang restaurant delivers breathtaking Szechuan cuisine. The hotel is located some way off the beaten track, but the management provides frequent shuttle buses. A great bargain.
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The stately Peninsula possesses something that no other hotel in the city can compete with: history. Built in the 1920s with lavish architectural or[name]ntation, it has welcomed luminaries such as Clark Gable, who apparently invented the Screwdriver cocktail while supporting one of its marble bars. But this is no crumbling colonial edifice. Every element of the hotel and the services it provides, from the Rolls Royce fleet to the helipad crowning the ’90s tower extension, aims to be the best. Located at the tip of the Kowloon peninsula, it has good transport connections across the harbour and on to the MTR. Service is sublime.
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The multi-storey Wharney is an oasis in an area better known for its nightclubs and bars. In the dark hours, Wan Chai buzzes with excitement at ground level while the practical, inexpensive rooms offer sanctuary above. During the day the hotel provides a good base for business, with excellent transport links, and The Exhibition Centre is within walking distance. Service is brisk and straightforward and the rooms are generously proportioned for the price. Book early, particularly when there is a major trade show scheduled.
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Despite its [name], the YWCA is open to both sexes and is outstanding value for money. One of four YWCA properties in Hong Kong, The Garden View is located in an up-market expatriate area halfway up Victoria Peak. While it lacks the\r\[name]nities or convenient transport links of a five-star hotel, it benefits from a quiet ambience and proximity to the underappreciated Botanical Gardens, which are great for an instant escape. Rooms have an odd-shape, owing to the design of the 20-storey tower, but are equipped with kitchenettes and microwave ovens. Bookings can be made by the night, but the price reduces significantly for periods of more than seven days.
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